It is exciting to be writing you once again. It feels like things are happening so fast and we never have the time to put it all on paper (how do you say that when its in an email and you never use a pen or paper???). We have finally finished our Wilderness First Responder Course and a weekend off is a welcome reprieve. With temperatures sitting between 105 and 110 and steadily climbing, the endurance of the heartiest people can be tested in an outdoor classroom after lunch. This is one American family that now has a greater understanding for the rest of the world's use of the siesta. Wow I love siestas...
There are moments within each season of life where we get to take a breath - albeit sometimes short - and glimpse into the future with new perspective. You get to imagine how where you've been or where God has you could possibly affect where you are going. Sometimes we stand in awe and humility before God and what He has done. Sometimes it is overwhelming as responsibility for what we have been entrusted with hits us in the face. It can even be scary. We are at a moment like that right now.
After two weeks of Wilderness First Responder, taught by SOLO (www.soloschools.com), we have been blessed with a new set of tools. We are truly being called to a new standard. For years now God has had us in a school of faith and spiritual growth. For the last two weeks He added a physical dimension that we probably never would have looked for if it weren't for being here at Overland Missions AMT. In the school of thought most spirit filled missionaries come from, practical life skills are often neglected and even sometimes viewed as obstructions to faith. I cannot guess how many times I personally have discounted the need for certain training and chalked it up to the mindset that we live by faith and God will provide. It really is laziness. It is a way of thinking that doesn't want to be accountable for moving forward. I am thankful God has opened the doors for us to walk into this moment and the Holy Spirit has been re-shaping our perspective. We are not short-term missionaries. We need to walk with long-term mentalities. We need every moment of every day to add every skill and tool God provides us for a LIFETIME of fruitfulness and growth. We are eternal beings with eternal destinations. We need to build with the mindset that we are going to be doing our Father's business for quite a while.
With that said, I have included some pictures to illustrate some of what we have done. We have learned to identify and care for a wide swath of wounds, injuries, and sickness. We were taught leadership skills and strategic planning in the face of crisis and tragedy. The knowledge alone has helped take away a lot of the apprehension for facing certain situations that are inevitably waiting for us in the mission field. The Word says to "take every thought captive," and when you have certain knowledge and understanding about things you encounter it helps to squash the fear and imaginations that threaten to cripple us when we are surprised by what we meet. Even when our purpose may be to pray and see the sick healed, it is one more way we cut Satan off to be prepared and equipped physically and mentally against the attacks he brings - be they spiritual or physical.
After 12 days of ten hour sessions and practicals, we spent the last two days of our course teaching what we learned to some of the women and elders from a local village. We got to spend a lot of time with these folks and share with them simple ways of minimizing the catastrophic damage that injuries can inflict in a people with limited resources and access to health care. We laughed with them, and ate with them, and got to learn from them things about their culture and approach to life that you cannot gain from a textbook. One of our trainers, Rowan Lewis, is a Zimbabwean who helped teach us in ways that Africans tend to learn, through the weaving of information and illustration, demonstration and experience. The other two of our teachers are giants in their own right - Paul MacMillan (despite being a Bostonian and Red Sox fan) is an incredible teacher and life-long educator He is currently the Superintendent of a public school district in New Hampshire. Dr. Frank Hubbell is the school's founder and an expeditionist, ER trauma doctor, and pastor among many other hard-earned things. He has trained emergency response on the highest levels of civilian, government, and military settings around the world. Over these two weeks all of these men have become great friends and we are privileged to have been under their tutelage.
Of course, complimentary to all of the AMT classes and knowledge, we are still sitting here on the edge of the lower Zambezi in awe of this place and its beauty. Whether we get to daze into the sunset and watch the canyon's eagles soar and screech, or take an early morning to hike into the gorge and explore its intricacies, or it is simply to sit still and listen as the air around us tells its story, this place is intoxicating to the senses. Our class took a river boat last week on the upper Zambezi and we got to see hippos, beautiful bird life, impala, and so many other animals in their natural habitat. Yesterday we took a few hours by a local hotel's pool and on the drive in saw three giraffe that live around the grounds. This is like an Edenic playground that you can never out-grow. We are so blessed.
It will be a little strange to not be with the training staff from SOLO. We have built great friendships with these guys and they have poured so much into us over the last two weeks. I can only hope and pray the God blesses us to be able to work with them again in the future. Please keep us in your prayers as we continue to work hard and invest in the calling we have elected to run hard after. It is an honor for us to be in this position and we covet your prayers which are part of the foundation we stand on.
Be blessed in all of your goings and comings,
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The Garrett Family
Overland Missions
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